Skaters gather to remember Daytona teen struck, killed by train

“I never thought I would wake up on a Tuesday morning to the news I woke up to,” said sister Gia Gonzalez..

By Katie Kusturakatie.kustura@news-jrnl.com

SOUTH DAYTONA — About 100 kids young and old, many with a skateboard in hand or under their feet, flooded a Ridgewood Avenue skateboard park Thursday — not to grind a new rail or ride a new ramp but to remember one of their own.Giovanne “Gio” Gonzalez, a 17-year-old amateur skateboard competitor who attended the Richard Milburn Academy, was killed about 8:30 p.m. Monday when he was struck by a train. It is not known why Gonzalez was walking along the tracks near Wilder Boulevard in Daytona Beach when he was hit.Jericho Skate Park, formerly Stone Edge Skate Park, held a free skate session at 4 p.m. before the 6 p.m. memorial.“Nothing compares to losing somebody,” said Gia Gonzalez, 28, the teen's sister. “I never thought I would wake up on a Tuesday morning to the news I woke up to.”Tears ran down the faces of several teens as they made their way to “the bird's nest,” the highest point in the skate park, to share their condolences and give hugs to Gio's family and closest friends.“I'm still in shock,” said Gloria Gonzalez, the teen's mother. “I'm here to say I loved my son very much.”She told memorial attendees she sometimes wondered if she loved him too much, giving him all things skateboarding: clothes, shoes, boards, stickers — you name it, and Gio probably had it.“He's with Jesus now, and I'm happy about that part,” Gloria Gonzalez said.Gio lived in Daytona Beach but was known as a fixture at the South Daytona park where he always had a smile but never a high-and-mighty attitude about his skating abilities.Close friend Bobby Brundidge first met Gio about two years ago.“We used to skate together every day,” Brundidge, 21, said. “I love him. He has a big part of my heart.”Brundidge said he loved the way Gio, whose favorite trick was a backside air, brought people together, many of whom admired Gio's talent as a skateboarder.“He was someone I looked up to,” said friend and fellow skateboarder Jackie Harris, 19. “He really touched me.”Gio's cousin, Alexio Cardona, said he was impressed by how quickly his younger cousin became skilled at the sport.“He was three times better than me in nine months time,” Cardona, 21, said. “He's doing trick flips up in heaven.”